Container having anti-drip means



July 9, 1968 G. L. GUNDEL 3,391,838

CONTAINER HAVING ANTI-DRIP MEANS Filed Feb. 6, 19s? 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR BY ,6, 4M, Add, M... v

ATTORNEYS y 9, 1968 G. 1.. GUNDEL 3,391,838

CONTAINER HAVING ANTI-DRIP MEANS Filed Feb. 6, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Geaese L 6041061 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,391,838 CONTAINER HAVING ANTI-DRIP MEANS George L. Gundcl, 2 Stonehenge Lane, Albany, N.Y. 12203 Filed Feb. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 614,173 3 Claims. (Cl. 222-571) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A design in which the drip of a bottle is reduced to a minimum and in which any minimum dripping is kept away from the bottle itself in such a way as to preclude the possibility of drops of liquid running down the sides of the bottle which is a deformed bottle where the bottle surface is behind a plumb line from a point on the pouring spout.

Background of the invention Bottles formed of glass, plastic, rubber, nylon and other materials are used for a variety of purposes and to enclose and contain a variety of liquids. It is quite common for a user to pour a portion of the contents from the bottle by tipping and to turn the bottle right side up again. Drip of the contents from the opening or pouring edge of the bottle onto the bottle after pouring results in the contents coating the outer surface of the bottle. The outer surface then becomes messy and/or sticky depending upon the material within the bottle and it is very annoying when the user attempts to pour a second portion from the bottle since gripping the bottle results in transmitting the content of the bottle now on the outer surface of the bottle to the hands of the user. This is especially annoying when used in the kitchen, as the exterior of bottles becomes messy when the content of the bottle is cooking oil or other viscous material.

Summary of the invention In accordance with the present invention, a bottle is provided with a spout which determines the direction liquids poured from the bottle will travel and arranging the spout and bottle to eliminate the presence of any bottle surface between a point on the spout and a plumbline from said point to the surface on which the bottle may be standing. This is accomplished by providing an indentation in the bottle which runs vertically up and down the bottle under the spout area. In addition, the spout is provided on its upper surface with a dam and on its lower surface with a depending beard to minimize drip.

Description of the drawings In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a bottle constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the bottle shown in FIG. 1 from the neck up;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the bottle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bottle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of the bottle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view from the neck up of the bottle shown in FIG. 1 with a cap applied thereto; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view from the neck up of an alternate embodiment of the invention.

Description of the preferred embodiments In FIGS. 1-6 there is shown a bottle 10 having an enlarged body 12, narrow neck 14 and intermediate annular exterior threaded section 16 which is less in diame- 3,391,838 Patented July 9, 1968 ter than the largest diameter section of body 12 and greater in diameter than the neck 14.

A pouring lip 18 projects radially outwardly and slightly downwardly from the upper edge of the neck. When the bottle is upended for pouring of the contents, the contents of the bottle will pour in a direction determined by the lip 18. The pouring lip 18 is also referred to herein as a pouring spout.

In order to reduce drip, a raised cut-off portion or dam is provided at the upper surface of spout 18 near its end. This dam is seen best in FIG. 3 where it is indicated by the numeral 29. The dam is quite small and in normal upright position slopes rearwardly or to the inside of the bottle as seen in FIG. 2. The presence of the dam on the spout materially reduces the drip of content of the bottle outside or off of the pouring lip or spout 18. The exact size and angle of the spout and the dam depends upon the viscosity and other characteristics of the material within the bottle as well as upon the characteristics of the material from which the bottle is formed. The presence of the spout to determine direction of flow, the angle of the spout, and the presence of the dam all contribute to the reduction of drip and modifications of angle and materials serve to eliminate drip to a greater or lesser degree.

To further reduce drip and rundown of contents from the mouth of the bottle there is molded on the outside of the spout 18 a small depending heard or projection 22 which can catch and stop any drip or rolldown from the lip or spout 18. The beard 22 is seen best in FIG. 2.

Since the principal object of the design is to reduce to a minimum the drip to the bottle, the bottle is formed or shaped concave or the portion under the bottle spout 18 is moved back far enough so that in combination with the spout determining the direction of pour and of the minimum drip, no drip can possibly fall from the beard to strike the body of the bottle.

The concave section 24 is provided beneath spout 18. The concave section is formed by cutting out a triangular section from the horizontal plane of the base of the bottle behind a plumb-line from the beard 22 and the contour of the bottle is gracefully swung or formed so that no drip from the beard would or could hit the bottle in normal use and hence the outer surface of the bottle would remain free of liquid at all times. The cut-out concave section 24 is behind the plumb-line from the heard throughout from the base to the neck. The base gives the appearance of a two-toed base with the concave design rising from the two-toed base.

An alternate embodiment of the invention is shown in FlG. 7 wherein pouring spout 26 is formed on bottle 28 and has a slightly upward direction, rather than the downward direction of spout 18. The spout 26 is formed in the manner of the spout of the embodiment previously described with a darn 30 and depending beard 32. It is noted that the heard 32 is beyond the outer surface of the bottle so that a plumb-line from the heard 32 will not strike the outer surface of the bottle.

Appropriate closures must be provided for the bottles thus far described. With respect to the design shown in FIGS. 1 through 6, it is noted that neck 16 is provided with an external threaded portion 36 with which the inside threaded portion 38 of closure 40 engages. Closure 40 has a cylindrical depending skirt 42 and an upper circular fiat wall portion 44 whose lower surface 46 tightly engages the upper surface of bottle 10 when the threads 36 and 38 are engaged. Thus a seal is made at the top of the bottle including the lip. The enlarged neck portion 16 can have a radius slightly smaller than the radius which includes the lip or can have a radius somewhat greater than the radius which includes the lip. As shown in FIG. 6,

the enlarged portion 16 has a radius greater than the radius which includes the lip. If the radius, however, of the enlarged portion were lesser, the closure 40 would have to be shaped with the liner of the closure making a tight contact all the way around and the closure would be curved downwardly near the circumference to make a seal with the bottle.

It is noted that the cut-out portion or concave section 24 is formed in the area of the neck of the bottle as Well as in the area of the enlarged portion 16. The threaded portion 36 starts right at the concave or cut-out portion and the beginning of the threads adjacent the concave portion are slightly tapered so that engagement with the threads of the closure is readily accomplished.

In the event the bottle was provided with an internal threaded section within the neck and beneath the upper edge, such as 52 in FIG. 7, rather than the design of FIG. 6, the closure 60 shown in FIG. 7 could be used. In that closure there is a depending cylindrical portion 56 having external threads 54 formed to engage with the internal threaded section 52 of the bottle. An upper umbrella-like concave wall 62 is provided to engage and seal the upper edge of the bottle including the pouring spout. The closure is shaped concavely to make a tight seal completely around the bottle.

Of course, the bottle shown in FIGS. 1 through 6 could be provided with an inside threaded section and utilize closure 60 whereas the bottle shown in FIG. 7 could be provided with an external threaded section and be provided with a closure of the type shown in FIG. 6, provided, however, the upper portion of that closure was sufliciently great in diameter to allow for the increased the presence of the spout.

Thus, it is seen that an improved bottle design has been described including suitable closures for the bottle.

Obviously, numerous modifications might be made while keeping within the spirit of the invention which is defined by the claims.

I claim:

1. A pouring container, a body, a neck, an outwardly projecting collar formed on said neck, an upper edge of said neck, a pouring spout projecting outwardly from said upper edge and first and second recesses formed respectively in said body and said collar beneath said spout whereby a plumb line from said spout will not intersect said container or said collar.

2. A pouring container in accordance with claim 1 in which a dam in the form of a rearwardly sloping raised portion on the upper surface of said spout is provided.

3. A pouring container in accordance with claim 1 in which a heard in the form of a projection depending from the lower surface of said spout is provided.

radius due to References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,059,910 11/1936 Ravenscroft.

WALTER 'SOBIN, Primary Examiner. 

